Tania's Professional Learning Blog

Sunny hot day, Covid Lockdown and the playground has become busier…. Y ou dread the scene that you know is going to unfold as soon as you tell your child “It’s time to leave?” We’ve all been there both as a parent and a teacher.  It’s hard for a child to get their brain to switch tracks - even as an adult it’s hard to leave something that we are enjoying to move on to something we perceive as less enjoyable. The catalytic aspect of student learning, my ongoing inquiry focus is wha t I will focus on to change my practice to ensure that any 5 year old student starting school will have sufficient foundational skills to progress and succeed in Level 1 of the NZ curriculum. A nother part of my inquiry focus is building a solid relationship with everyone that is part of the transitioning process which includes, the child, parents/caregivers, the teachers from the kindergarten/ECE and Primary School teachers. It is important for me to explain what the difference is between transiti...

  How Drawing Develops Young Writers IMPORTANCE OF DRAWING: We all know about the benefits of drawing for children. It’s an ideal way to develop motor and mental skills. It also strengthens their exploratory, psychological, and emotional development. I found that during lockdown we did guided nearly every single day and the results are amazing - just by doing something "fun". When we started with this, some of the students were saying they don't want to because they can't - but man did that change!! I assume it is because there was no interruptions, distractions or other little eyes watching and they didn't have the feeling that they might fail or make a mistake!! I am so proud of what they have achieved. My thought behind this was that if they can draw with confidence it will lead to having confidence in their oral language and finally lead into writing about it!! A child can make magic with a few crayons, coloured pencils and paper. Sometimes, they just scribble...